UH-1E TAT-101 info needed

 That's a rather rare weapons system. The TAT-101 was first used on the Bell model 207 "Sioux Scout" and led to the TAT-102 used on the AH-1G Cobra. As to your question, I can only give you a "best guess" based on having been a gunship pilot, and weapons Officer in Viet Nam, but NOT with the Marines. With the type system and location it was mounted, the ammo feed belts would have to be located under the center console between the pilots seats. The ammo boxes would then be located behind the console, two long boxes aligned fore and aft and extending back under the rear bench seat. That is the way the 40mm turret was done in the Army gunships. The ammo cans would be similar to the ones located under the rear seats for the M-21 system, segmented metal cans that the belts were laid into. Remember to add the flexable site above the right pilots seat used to control the turret. Hope this helps.

 Bell 207 Sioux Scout

Thanks a lot for your help ! I've received some pictures from rotorwash in the Unusual Vietnam Hueys tread .

So far the best and only interior pictures I've seen ! Is this really such an unusual configuration that nothing exists , not even a drawing of the system ?

 I can't be certain but I don't recall the TAT-101 ever having a military identification assigned. The "TAT" series was the makers ID. If it wasn't ever assigned a number, there wouldn't have been a manuel for it, which could explain the lack of data on it. As far as I know, it was never produced in any numbers, and never used on anything but the very few Marine Hueys and the Sioux Scout test aircraft. Anyway good luck finding more pictures. 

Jumo213A1

So far the best and only interior pictures I've seen ! Is this really such an unusual configuration that nothing exists , not even a drawing of the system ?

You'd probably be surprised how little detail there is included even in the period manufacturers brochures.  Its even more surprising given how many members of the Tactical Armament Turret (TAT) Emerson Electric developed and sold commercially.  I know of at least 18 different variants and subvariants.  Emerson's TAT line also included turrets for armored vehicles and ships, with some overlap (Emerson offered a variant of the TAT-101 for ships for instance).  No variant of the TAT-101 series, including the TAT-101E for the USMC ever received a non-commercial nomenclature to my knowledge.

I have a photocopy of the manufacturer's sales information for the TAT-101D, which has the system's general arrangement, but does not include any indication of where the ammunition was stored or how the feed was arranged.  Since Emerson sold a self-contained derivative of the TAT-101 series with ammunition stored inside the turret (TAT-111), I'm inclined to believe that it would have to have been stored inside the main cabin ala the General Electric M5 nose turret.  I'm not sure if this might help, but the German Army acquired a version of the TAT-101, the TAT-103, fitted with the MG1 instead of the M60C.  Not sure if it might be easier to track down information near you on that one than on the TAT-101.  I assume it would have the same basic arrangement.

Wow say what ? The German Army acquired such a weapon ? Usually the technologies in the German military are one of the finest in the world for example the main gun of the M1 Abrams is the 120mm Rheinmetall smoothbore gun developed for the Leopard .

On the other hand there are weapon systems that don't seem to be of interest , the  Eurocopter Tiger is a good example for this . The manufacturer is so damn proud of this helicopter but it lacks a gun ! To compensate this it can be equipped with a cal.50 gun pod but then it loses one of it's hardpoints .

Every other modern attack helicopter has a gun like a 20mm or 30mm no matter if it is a Russian or American .

Where was the TAT-103 used ? I'm sure you mean a MG3 , the only German  helicopters I know armed with this weapon are the ones used in Afghanistan , but not in a turret they are pintle mounted in doors .

 I have searched for the TAT-103 but I could not find anything , do you have more information about it ?

No, the Emerson sales literature clearly states MG1 (though I'll be the first to admit that this doesn't mean its correct).  The turrets were acquired by the German Army in the 1960s, so the MG1 designation is not out of the realm of reason.  I have no idea how long they lasted in service, but they're definitely long gone by now.  I was thinking that there might be a museum, archive, or something else closer to you that might have had the info. 

Robert Busse's Bell UH-1D "Huey" (ISBN 3613031728), so far published only in German, was supposed to have a treatment of these turrets in German service.  I have not yet had the funds to acquire this book, which from what I've seen is a great resource.  Put the ISBN in a search engine to look up retailers.

Hi Jumo.

The Tiger is certainly capable of mounting a chin gun turret. The Australian machines have one mounted. Maybe it's an optional extra?

Grubby.

Yes Grubbman you are right about the chin gun on the Tiger , but Germany does not have this version they have the UHU version which stands for Unterstützungs-HUbschrauber  which means support helicopter .

It is the French Army version called Tiger HAP Hélicoptère d'Appui et Protection , the Australian is derived from this one .

To thatguy96 I've found Robert Busse's Bell UH-1D "Huey" on the German Amazon homepage , I'm gonna add it to my next order there it will be soon , I will post the turret pictures as soon it arrives .

 About the MG1 , now I know that I've had a knowledge gap . It was a kind of interim solution between the WW2 MG42 and the actual MG3 , but very similar on the exterior I'm sure that only an expert can tell the difference between those 3 when looking at a bad quality black and white picture .

Now I'm still searching for TAT-101 pics ... a never ending story ...

As I understand it the MG1 was the first generation of upgraded MG42s in 7.62x51mm.  After going through a number of subvariants, a further improved weapon, the MG3 was adopted.  The MG2, from what I remember, were older MG42 weapons, rechambered to fire 7.62x51mm ammunition.

Finally I managed to order and scan the UH-1D TAT-103 pic !

Sorry it took so long .

Robert Busse's book has some really nice pics and facts about the Huey in German service .

But to my problem , the turret , there are 3 pictures of it one is this one , and 2 others but both are small and in not such good quality as I was hoping to get . And no interior pictures ...

The text says something very interesting  the evaluation by the German HEER (Army) showed the same results as the MARINE experiences in Nam , no satisfaction at all with the system . Although the weapons used were the MG42 ! yes it says MG42 !

After various attempts to increase it's reliability the HEER decided to cancel the program in August 1972 .

Here is the good picture

I'm sorry that it didn't have more detail.  At least it sounds like it wasn't a wasted investment.